Annual celebration to honor outstanding women at KU


Wed, 04/09/2014

author

Kathy Rose-Mockry

LAWRENCE – The Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity at the University of Kansas will host the annual Women’s Recognition Banquet at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 10, in the Kansas Union Ballroom. The program, which recognizes outstanding women in the Kansas community, will induct six new members to the KU Women’s Hall of Fame and honor one KU graduate with the Pioneer Woman award.

In addition to the Hall of Fame inductees and the Pioneer Award recipient, 15 women will receive annual awards designed for students, staff, faculty, and alumnae who have enriched and improved the campus and community through their service, teaching for involvement.

The women’s recognition program is made possible not only by the Emily Taylor center, but also by the Commission of the Status of Women and the KU Office of Diversity & Equity.

Faculty and staff being honored include Outstanding Woman Educator Florence Reed, assistant professor of applied behavioral science and director of the Performance Management Laboratory; Outstanding Woman Staff Member Amy Long, associate director of the Student Involvement & Leadership Center; and Florence Boldridge, director of diversity and women’s engineering programs in the School of Engineering, who will receive the Kathleen McCluskey-Fawcett Women Mentoring Women Award.

The 2014 Hall of Fame inductees include Dr. Kimberly Templeton, professor of orthopedic surgery; Barbara Timmermann, University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry; the late Adele Hall, 2003 University of Kansas Honorary Alumna; Deborah Teeter, university director of the Office of Institutional Research and Planning; Neeli Bendapudi, dean of the KU School of Business; and Marily Harper Rhudy, principal, MHR consulting.

The 2014 Pioneer Woman award is received by the Honorable Julie Robinson, judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. A KU School of Law graduate, Robinson was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for 10 years before being appointed to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas. After serving eight years, President George W. Bush appointed Robinson as the first African-American woman to serve on the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. While serving as Assistant U.S. Attorney she taught trial practice courses to KU law students and later served on the KU School of Law Board of Governors. In addition to her service to the University, Robinson is a Kansas Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and has served on several committees of the Kansas Bar Association. Robinson’s colleagues agree that she “is a woman leader who has carried the banner of the crimson and blue with the humility and the highest standard of leadership.”

KU has inducted outstanding leaders into its Women’s Hall of Fame since 1970. The Women’s Hall of Fame is located at the fifth floor of the Kansas Memorial Union. Additional details about the KU Hall of Fame Inductees are as follows:

Dr. Kimberly Templeton, professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Kansas Medical Center: Following a fellowship in musculoskeletal oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital, Templeton began her professional career as an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at KU Medical Center. Templeton is the immediate past-president and was integral in the creation of the U.S. Bone and Joint Initiative Public Education Committee, which develops national education programs in areas of bone health and adolescent conditions. Templeton also worked with the Kansas Medical Society to create the Women Physicians Caucus, which provides a platform for women in medicine to learn from one another, network and grow in their profession. Templeton also is an at-large member for the National Board of Medical Practitioner and immediate past-president for the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts.

Barbara Timmermann, University Distinguished Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, KU School of Pharmacy: In 1970, Timmermann received her bachelor's degree in biological sciences at the National University of Cordoba, Argentina. After moving to the United States, Timmerman completed her doctoral studies at the University of Texas-Austin in 1980. Timmermann joined the KU School of Pharmacy faculty as a distinguished professor and served as chair of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry from 2005 to 2012. She is currently the director of the NIH-funded Center for Cancer Experimental Therapeutics. She is internationally known and highly regarded for her research in bioprospecting and her commitment to social justice. Since coming to KU, Timmermann has brought in more than $20 million in research funding.

Adele Coryell Hall, philanthropist, 2003 Honorary Alumna. In 1977, after 24 years of committed service, Hall became the first woman president of the Heart of America United Way. Ten years later she created the Women’s Public Service Network with the help of community and business leaders to foster a forum for social issues affecting women. In 1999 she was one of 12 forward-thinking women who created The Central Exchange, a nonprofit organization for the personal and professional growth of women that fosters community service and business leadership by women. In 2003 she received the KU Distinguished Service Citation for her service to Kansas, her community and the university. Hall’s Family Foundation has donated millions of dollars to aid KU in the development of the Hall Center for the Humanities, KU Cancer Center and various campus buildings and programs.

Deborah Teeter, university director, KU Office of Institutional Research and Planning. Teeter graduated from KU in 1975 with a master's in business administration and soon after was named the director of the Office of Institutional Research and Planning. For the last 40 years Teeter has worked with university administrators to provide statistical tools for planning and educate about the usefulness of data in shaping departments. Her collaborative nature led to the growth of the Association of American Universities Data Exchange, a group that works to improve higher education through data and analysis. Mabel Rice, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing, said Teeter's contributions to the university “are out of sight of most people, but for those who have watched her in action, she is truly inspiring.”

Neeli Bendapudi, KU Dean and H.D. Price Professor of Business, School of Business: In 1987, Bendapudi received her master's of business administration and a bachelor's degree from Andhra University in India, then came to the United States to start her doctorate in marketing at KU. After teaching at Texas A&M and Ohio State University, Bendapudi returned to KU. In 2011, she was named the first female dean of the School of Business. Since 2011, Bendapudi raised more than $55 million for a new state-of-the-art business school, worked to instill social responsibility in business students by starting a program that pairs MBA students with Kansas nonprofit organizations and collaborated with university departments to increase the number of women in business. “The university is lucky to have such an articulate and enthusiastic representative,” said Ann Cudd, vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Studies.

Marily Harper Rhudy, principal, MHR Consulting: After graduating in 1972 from the KU School of Pharmacy, Rhudy co-owned and operated three Topeka pharmacies for more than 20 years. She was the first female president of the Kansas Pharmacist Association and the first female chair of the American Pharmaceutical Association. In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed Rhudy as a Special White House Employee to serve as the pharmacist representative on the White House Health Professions Review Group, a part of the Clinton Health Care Reform. That same year she joined Wyeth Pharmaceuticals as director of Pharmacy Relations. Rhudy was soon named the first woman senior vice president for Global Corporate Affairs at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. In 2008, Rhudy left Wyeth and launched her own consulting practice. According to Gene Hotchkiss, senior associate dean of the School of Pharmacy, Rhudy has long been considered “the most influential woman in the pharmaceutical industry in the United States.”

Student honorees are as follows:

  • Megan Flanagan, Los Angeles, freshman, undecided major; Jameelah Jones, Conyers, Ga., graduate student in African and African-American studies; Sarah Maner, Lenexa, freshman in business marketing; and Hayley Tuggle, Topeka, freshman in biology; Alma Poehler Brook Memorial Award
  • Brianne Riley, Naperville, Ill., senior in community health, Outstanding Woman Student in Athletics
  • Hannah Sitz, Andover, senior in strategic communication and psychology, Outstanding Woman Student in Community Service
  • Leigh Loving, McPherson, junior in genetics, Outstanding Woman Student in Leadership
  • Kayla Sale, Olathe, junior in mathematics, Outstanding Woman Student in Partnership
  • Alyssa Ong, Penang, Malaysia, senior in finance and accounting, Outstanding International Woman Student
  • Ashlie Koehn, Burns, junior, environmental studies and Russian, East European and Eurasian studies, Outstanding Non-Traditional Woman Student
  • Jill Langlas, Wheaton, Ill., senior in mechanical engineering, Sally Mason Student in Science
  • Tina Woods, Galena, sophomore in secondary Spanish education and pre-law, Marlesa & Hannalesa Roney Student Success Mentor.

 

Wed, 04/09/2014

author

Kathy Rose-Mockry

Media Contacts

Kathy Rose-Mockry

Emily Taylor Center for Women & Gender Equity

785-864-3552